Diastasis recti is something often talked about after pregnancy as we start to address the changes that have happened to the body during pregnancy and continue to happen postpartum. The thing is though, you can start addressing diastasis during your pregnancy and steps you take then can make a difference in the amount of abdominal separation that happen. First off, what is diastasis recti?

The most significant muscle stretching in the core happens along the rectus abdominus and impacts the connective tissue called the linea alba. The rectus abdominus muscle consists of two sets of muscle bellies that run parallel and are held together by a connective tissue called the linea alba which runs from the sternum to the pubic bone. As baby grows and the uterus expands, the muscle bellies can separate and the linea alba stretches thin which is what creates diastasis recti.

So, what to do?

The two most important things you can do at all times during pregnancy are:

Keep an awareness to good posture with particular attention to avoiding pelvic tilt forward and pushing the ribs forward. The great news? This is counterbalanced by "hugging" baby in!

Movements to avoid during pregnancy:

Thrusting ribs forward

Deep twisting

Core work like crunches

Doing a crunch shortens the recti muscles and actually makes any separation worse. When the muscles shorten they bulge out in the middle. Crunches also increases pressure in the pelvic bowl area. This can weaken the pelvic floor muscles and contribute to pelvic organ prolapse.

One of the biggest triggers and easies to address is how to lay down and get up properly from bed:

To lay down:

While still sitting on the side of the bed, focus on hugging baby in toward the spine.

With this engaged, lay down on your side and bring the legs up on to the bed.

Most importantly lay head down on the pillow while on the side (this should be the last thing down)

Hug baby in again as you roll on to your back.

To get back up:

Most importantly, keep head down as you roll over, if you lift your head you’re essential doing an abdominal crunch (big diastasis no-no)

Hug baby in as you roll to your side and keep that engagement as you use your hands to press you up.

​Many people come to yoga for the first time during their pregnancy. Yoga is often recommended by a care provider or a friend as a way to address some of the common discomforts that go along with inhabiting a pregnant body. Yoga can also provide much needed mind-body practices that can help address stress and anxiety and potentially prepare one for childbirth. First and foremost, make sure that you have clearance from your care provider to be doing exercise and that you don’t have any specific circumstances where yoga isn’t recommended. From there, there are some general guidelines you can keep in mind in your practice, in most cases it’s a matter of what things to avoid. We'll go through each of the things to avoid and some ways to adjust when you're in a regular yoga class:

Avoid deep twistsFor twisting on the back try this instead:

Start in side-lying and open the top arm back behind you so the twist comes from the upper body rather than the lower body.

Start on the back with knees together feet wide and drop both knees to one side and then to the other.

For twisting in standing try this instead:

Take open twists: twist away from the front leg so the belly remains open.

You can choose to rest the forearm on the front leg rather than bringing the hand all the way to the floor.

An example of this would be to do side angle pose instead of revolved side angle pose, in that adjustment you are twisting away from the bent knee in front.

Avoid poses on the stomachPretty intuitive right? Many folks will find that up till around 14-18 weeks they will feel fine being on their bellies and if it feels okay in the first trimester then there's no reason not to continue to do so. Other folks will find that immediately they will feel protective of their belly and want to avoid anything on the stomach. Ways to modify are:

Avoid poses on the back where both hips and shoulders are touching the floorThis becomes important around 18-20 weeks of pregnancy as baby starts to get bigger. When we lie flat on our back there is the potential for baby to put pressure on the vena cava, a vein that carries deoxygenated blood back to the heart. Prolonged pressure on the vena cava can, for some people, put baby at risk (curious about this, read the blog on lying on your back in pregnancy!).

That being said, it is prolonged pressurewe are worried about. If you come briefly on to your back you won't be doing any harm, it’s more a matter of if you were to set yourself up in savanasana flat on your back and stay in the pose for a long time. With a few props you can modify to make yourself more comfortable:

Use a bolster underneath the length of the spine for savasana or prop the bolster up with blocks to give yourself more lift.

For legs up the wall take a bolster underneath the hips.

For extended time on the back doing leg work, take a bolster underneath the hips and lift the hips up off the floor.

Avoid deep backbendsAnother note for later in pregnancy because it will a) most likely not feel great and b) has the potential to aggravate diastisis which is a separation of the abdominals that naturally happens during pregnancy but can be made worse by core work, twisting and big opening in the front of the body (all contraindicated in pregnancy). You can still do backbends, but I recommend doing them with support:

Try a block under hands for camel or bolster under thighs for upward dog.

​Avoid certain Pranayama & KriyasThere are certain pranayama that we want to avoid during pregnancy either because of the pressure it puts on the belly or because of its possibility of depriving our body of oxygen both of which can put baby at potential risk.The pranayamas to avoid are Kapalabhati, Bhastrika and long breath retentions The Kriyas to avoid are Uddiyana Bhanda, Nauli and Agni Sara.

The wonderful thing? The right pranayama practices can be excellent during pregnancy to help relieve stress and also help us practice connecting to our breath as a tool to use in labor. Instead of the practices above consider these two options:

Avoid Core WorkAnd last, avoid core work. This can be so hard in our society given we put so much pressure on new mamas to “bounce” back postpartum, some folks can feel added pressure to start strengthening their core when their pregnant in preparation. While we do want a strong core in terms of our obliques supporting our back in holding baby’s weight doing most abdominal strengthening exercises can make diastasis recti worse (more on that here). So here’s some things you can do to strengthen your support muscles instead of core work:

In any pose where you might have hugged your belly in prior to your pregnancy now cue yourself to “hug baby in”. This sense of hugging baby can help engage your obliques.

Work with poses like opposite limb extension from hands and knees and use the cue of hugging baby in.

So we've all heard the "don't lay on your back when you're pregnant" advice, but so often we're just told that, not really the why. The reason folks are advised not to lay on their backs during pregnancy is because when you are flat on your back there is the possibility of the uterus pressing on the inferior vena cava which is a vein that carries deoxygenated blood back to the heart. Prolonged pressure on this vein can cause issues for mama and potentially cause issues for the fetus. But what's the deal here really? Do we stop laying on our backs as soon as we conceive? Can we still do yoga poses on our backs?

So I really can't lie on my back?The answer is yes...and no. What we're worried about is putting pressure on the vena cava, this won't happen when baby is the size of a peanut. The concern is when baby IS big enough to put pressure on the vena cava so its generally not till late in the 2nd trimester when this can become an issue.

That being said, small amounts of time on your back are perfectly fine and will happen naturally during your sleep most likely. The caution is around more extended periods of time on the back particularly late in your pregnancy.

The great thing is you can lie on your back if you have a small lift either under your pelvis or under your shoulders (one or the other not both). You can accommodate this by lying with a folded blanket or a pillow under the hips or laid back at incline with the head, shoulders and upper back propped up on a pillow or bolster.

If you're at all concerned about any time on your back, know that your body will give you feedback if there is pressure on the vena cava. This might show up in the form of nausea or dizziness and if you experience either of these while laying on your back (props or not), come to sit up immediately.

How to make yoga poses safeIn prenatal yoga classes, teachers should be very mindful of keeping the time on the back limited. If considerable time is spent on the back poses should be supported with the a folded blanket or bolster under the hips.

In addition, here are a few poses that are safe poses on the back during pregnancy:

Bridge PosePlace a block between inner thighs to cue leg engagement.You can flow in and out or hold with the hips lifted.You can also do a restorative version with a block under the sacrum.

Benefits: strengthen glutes, low back and legs. Open hip flexors.

Contraindications: SI Joint pain (try supported version with block).

Supine TwistStart with feet hip width apart or wider.Drop the knees in one direction, the head in the other.

Benefits: low back lengthener, chest opener.

Contraindications: pubic symphysis, SI joint pain.

Legs up the WallSit on the edge of the bolster with side of body facing the wall.Bring outside arm to the floor and rotate hips so butt is touching the wall.Bring head down and scoot closer to the wall and use arms to press up.Leg variations: legs together, legs wide, bound angle, squat at the wall.

I cannot tell you the endless posts I've seen on social media as of late by mamas and papas denouncing the actions of the government against immigrant families. As a parent it can feel heartbreaking and overwhelming and as a human being, parent or not, it can be devastating and hard to know what to do to help.

I attended a community meeting this morning for information on asylum seeks and separated families. Make NO mistake that the current executive order is a stop gap, but does nothing for all the families currently being separate and does nothing to address the fact that asylum seekers are still being turned over to the DOJ to be processed criminally (SEEKING ASYLUM IS NOT A CRIME).

There is much to do, and much you can do whether its from the comfort of your home, computer and phone or going out into your community to take action. Here's a short list of things you can do to help, right now at this moment:

Donate: provide legal aid to those currently being detained. “Immigrants, even children, have no guarantee of legal representation as they pursue asylum or face deportation. Most do not know their rights or speak English well enough to represent themselves. In 75 percent of cases where children had counsel, an immigration judge determined they had a strong enough claim for asylum or humanitarian protection and allowed them to stay in the United States.”

Support efforts to defund family separation in appropriations and decrease funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Customs and Border Protection, and the U.S. Attorneys’ Offices within the Department of Justice

End the policy of separating and jailing families. Demand that President Trump, DHS Secretary Nielsen, and Attorney General Sessions end family separation and detention through social media, letters, appropriations, and in Congressional hearings

Urge your Member of Congress to cosponsor the following legislation:

S. 3036 – Keep Families Together Act

R. 2572 – Protect Family Values at the Border Act

R. 5950/S.2937 – the HELP Separated Children Act

R. 2043/S. 2468 – Fair Day in Court for Kids Act of 2018

Provide Accompaniment & Solidarity to Asylum Seekers

Find out how to provide financial support for humanitarian and trasnproation needs to asylum seekers

Local in the Pacific Northwest: www.thechurchcouncil.org (designate your gift for the specific purpose of SeaTac Asylum-Seekers Assistance)

Offer short-term shelter at congregations or in private homes to asylum seekers when they release and making plans to reunite with their families and find housing.

​The second trimester is when you may start seeing an increase in low back pain, particularly around the SI Joint. This is due to relaxin’s effect on the SI joint, causing it to loosen and become less stable as well as later in this trimester the postural shifts in the low back due to increased load of baby.

But wait, what is my SI Joint? This is the joint between the sacrum (the heart shaped bone at the base of the spine) and the illium bones (the pelvic bones that come around and meet either side of the sacrum in the low back). This is considered a joint because it is held together my connective tissue (tendons and ligaments) and the sacrum can move slightly in relationship to the pelvic bones.

Wondering how to tell if what you have is SI Joint pain or just general low back pain? Often times you will feel the pain on one side more strongly than the other. It may also show up as sharp one sided pain that happens when you do a movement that triggers it. Definitely seek out a professional to help you diagnose.

Mama hacks for Sacral Pain

If you’re open to chiropractic care, it can be a huge help at this time. Often what needs to happen is the sacrum needs to be manipulated back into place. If there’s one in your area, seek out a chiropractor who specializes in prenatal care. If there’s not, find a chiropractor that does gentle manipulation with something called an activator—no big scary cracking movements here!

Physical therapists can also sometimes be of help with this issue if you’re feeling unsure about a chiropractor. While their focus is more on musculature, sometimes giving you specific work to do with muscles around that area can also prevent the joint from moving as much.

Yoga Hacks for Sacral Pain

Unfortunately, there’s not a lot to do that can help sacral pain, but there are somethings to be aware of during your practice as anything that triggers the pain should be avoided.

Be mindful of one legged poses:

Balance poses may hurt on one side, but not the other. Only doe the one side that doesn’t hurt.

For opposite limb extension choose to keep the foot on floor of the extended leg.

Okay, so maybe you've had the experience postpartum of having to reorganize your breasts in your bra before leaving the house? I can't tell you how many times I have looked down and found one nipple to be totally off-center in relationship to the other one. It was one of those days. And so I reach in to reorganize and as my fingers hit my nipple and I had a moment of thinking

​"Oh my god, what is that? Is that me? Is that my nipple?" In that moment, I physically did not know my own body. It was funny and also a bit unsettling.

Now a little over a year postpartum I can recognize all the ways my body still doesn't feel like my own. After a year of breastfeeding my breasts and nipples have changed shape dramatically and I know that that those days of small perky breasts are pretty much over for me. While I work out regularly and do yoga, my belly still holds fat and the rolls that magically appeared during my pregnancy in my back have yet to completely disappear. My stomach and breasts are a constellation of stretch marks and what is it with those whispy pieces of hair that have broken out from my mom-bun by each of my ears?

My body is a new landscape that I am still learning the terrain of. Many of these parts will continue to grow and shift over time but many of these parts are here to stay. New parts of me that are a constant reminder of everything my body did to house and birth and care for my little girl. I'm not going to lie, I am still learning to be friends with this new me. Some days, I love my body, I love its strength and other days I miss how my body used to be.

The funny thing, whether I had a kiddo or not, my body would be changing...maybe not as fast, but it would change. And the other funny thing? Once I finally get to know this new body, it will change again. Nothing is permanent and so the best thing I can do is keep trying to get to know myself moment to moment as I unfold and change and grow. And hopefully not totally freak out next time I bump into a part of myself that doesn't feel like me.

Are you returning to your yoga practice postpartum? We recommend waiting till you get clearance from your care provider before returning to your regular fitness routine. And even after you get clearance you may find it takes some time to have that time, energy and drive to get back on your mat. Not to worry, start when you like and know that you have the support of short online postpartum yoga videos that can help support you get back into the swing of things and also do so with the small snippets of time your little one may be allowing you. Ready to go back to your regular yoga class? If you can, find a postpartum yoga class to attend in your area. If you can't, here are some tips for ways to modify your yoga practice to support your body.

Be mindful of anything on poses on the belly as breasts are tender and often swollen and those who have had c-sections may be uncomfortable on belly. Instead try:

Sphinx pose instead of cobra

Resting on stacked fists instead of palms when face down

Doing a standing quad stretch at the wall instead of bow pose

Be aware of deep stretches and over stretching. Just like when you were pregnant, relaxin is still present in the body postpartum and you'll need to be careful not to overstretch or put too much pressure on joints.

Be careful to not spend a lot of time on the hands. as hands, wrists and forearms are often sore from holding/carrying baby.

If you are in table top try being on the fists or forearms on a bolster.

For downward dog or plank both can be done on the forearms as well.

​Avoid chatarunga (lowering down in push-ups) as much as possible. This muscle group is heavily overworked postpartum and should be minimally used in practice. Plus core is still weak and cannot support the low back fully. Instead you can:

Skip them entirely and stay in plank on the knees.

Take plank on the knees and lower from there.

Be mindful around swan dives and other forward folds that rely heavily on low back. The low back is being overworked picking babies up and there is less abdominal support for the back. Instead try:

Bending the knees as you come up and down from folds.

If you are staying in a hanging forward fold, consider bending the knees and resting the forearms on the thighs.

Yoga is not something that requires fancy pants, or tops or a yoga mat really. Yoga is something you can do anywhere with very little. The great thing? There some wonderful yoga poses that you can do using the support of your wall. And guess what? Everyone's got one of those. You can do these with or without a yoga mat. Just make sure that if you're on a slippery surface you're in bare feet so you don't slide. Yoga at the wall during pregnancy can help give us that added support for balance that we most definitely need as baby gets bigger. It can also allow us to go deeper into poses we might not necessarily go into away from the wall. Whether you have a regular prenatal yoga practice and just want to change things up or are looking for some great poses to get your started for the first time in a prenatal yoga practice, these 5 poses are for you (p.s. do in them in order for a nice mini practice to start or end your day)!

Right Angle at the WallHands start on wall at line of low ribs and feet step back to create right angle.Feet at least hip width apart, can add a swing of hips.Benefits: low back release.

Tree PoseInside foot is the standing foot.Hand can stay on wall, elbow as kickstand or can hands off the wall.Benefits: strengthen legs, support changing balance, open pelvis.Contraindications: SI joint pain (don’t do side that hurts), pubic symphysis (keep knee squared rather than open).

Pelvic TiltsMovement comes from tipping of pelvis not bending and straightening legs.Feet at least hip width or wider.Knees can be as bent or straight as practitioner would like.Benefits: low back lengthening and release.

Waiting for baby to arrive can be hard, waiting for baby to arrive after we've passed our due date can be even harder. I always like to tell students to think about it as a "due month" rather than a "due date." Anywhere from three weeks before to two weeks after your due date baby can arrive. This can take some of the pressure off that magical due date (on which only about 1% of babies are actually born!). With that in mind, once we pass our due date our care providers may start to encourage us to do things to get labor going. There's tons of tips and tricks out there but here are 3 quick things you can do that can help baby drop into position if that's what is keeping labor from starting.

Opening Pelvic OutletMake some more space in the pelvic outlet for baby to start to descend into the pelvis.

Side lunge with hip circles

Frog pose

Deep SquatsDeep squats can also create opening in the pelvis and encourage baby to move down and initiate labor.

Squat with feet parallel to make more space for baby’s head

Take a block or bolster under the sit bones if you would like to stay for a long period of time

Pelvic Rocks at the WallThis movement can help baby descend downward as well.

Movement comes from tipping of pelvis not bending and straightening legs.

Many mamas come to yoga for the first time during their pregnancy. Yoga is recommended by a care provider or a friend as a way to address some of the common discomforts that go along with inhabiting a pregnant body. It can also provide much needed mind-body practices that can help address stress and anxiety and potentially prepare one for childbirth. There are many folks though who have had a regular yoga practice up until the point of their pregnancy and want to continue doing their regular yoga classes. My advice? Definitely check out a prenatal yoga class or pregnancy yoga videos onlinethis will give you an idea of what you can and can't do. And will also give you inspiration for modifications when you're in a class that is doing something not recommended for the pregnancy body. There are some general guidelines you can keep in mind in your practice:

In most cases its a matter of what things to avoid, we'll go through each of the things to avoid and some ways to adjust when you're in a regular yoga class:

Avoid deep twistsFor twisting on the back:

Start in sidling and open the top arm back behind you so the twist comes from the upper body rather than the lower body.

Start on the back with knees together feet wide and drop both knees to one side and then to the other.

For twisting in standing:

Take open twists: twist away from the front leg so the belly remains open.

You can choose to rest the forearm on the front leg rather than bringing the hand all the way to the floor.

Avoid poses on the stomachPretty intuitive right? Many folks will find that up till around 14-18 weeks they will feel find being on their bellies and if it feels okay in the first trimester then there's no reason not to continue to do so. Other folks will find that immediately they will feel protective of their belly and want to avoid anything on the stomach. Ways to modify are:

Upward facing dog with a bolster underneath the thighs.

Sphinx pose with a bolster underneath the thighs.

Doing cat/cow flows while the class is on their stomach.

Avoid poses on the back where both hips and shoulders are touching the floorThis becomes important around 20ish weeks of pregnancy as baby starts to get bigger. When we lie flat on our back there is the potential for baby to put pressure on the vena cava a vein that carries deoxygenated blood back to the heart. Prolonged pressure on the vena cava can, for some people, put baby at risk. That being said, it is prolonged pressure if you come briefly on to your back you won't be doing any harm, its more a matter of if you were to set yourself up in savanasana flat on your back for a long time. With a few props you can modify to make yourself more comfortable:

Use a bolster underneath the length of the spine for savasana or prop the bolster up with blocks to give yourself more lift.

For legs up the wall take a bolster underneath the hips.

For extended time on the back doing leg work, take a bolster underneath the hips and lift the hips up off the floor.

Avoid deep backbendsAnother note for later in pregnancy because it will a) most likely not feel great and b) has the potential to aggravate diastisis (more on that here).

You can still do backbends, but do them with support: block under hands for camel or bolster under thighs for upward dog.